For After School Sports and Performance Athletes
Extremely important! Hydration is the most powerful protectant against concussions. And injuries. But it is not guzzling ever more water! That can lead to water intoxication.
In our book Quench, we lay out the new whys and hows for sports hydration.
“Rethink hydration. It is not simply replacing fluids, instead imagine how it buffers tissues and cells. Water, ever blessing, is not only providing energy, but providing sponginess, right as young athletes are going into all sorts of impact with after school sports.
Hydrating late in the day for staying brain bright is essential, through those last hours of a school day (and by the way, can anyone explain why chemistry is always the last class of the day for high schoolers?), but with after school sports, hydrating the body comes another level of need.
We don’t want to scare you with statistics on young athlete concussions, and their so often hidden but lasting consequences, so we will cut straight to the solution. Hydration is the first and foremost way to pre-protect, pre-load, offering muscle and brain buffering.
And if you couple liquids with oils, especially Omega-3s, you have strategically sent in the inner-body defense team, all ready to repel injury or concussion.
The evidence on pre-protecting the brain, and treating concussions with Omega 3s is now legion, and the research was initiated by the US Army. Dr. L. Lewis, a former colonel with the U.S. Army Medical Corps, documented how Omega-3 supplementation prior to brain injury could protect, and speed recovery, if injured. See his seminal article “Neuroprotection for the Warrior: Dietary Supplementation With Omega-3 Fatty Acids.”
How about a sports drink that accomplishes that? A drink that delivers hydration, electrolytes and Omega 3s in one guzzle? We developed a Quench recipe just for that, and named it the Tarahumara Express (see recipe below) to honor the ancient tribe of the Tarahumara, made famous in the book we mentioned earlier, Born to Run.
They fuel all that running with chia seeds, so we are right back to where we started: alternative hydrating strategies abound in many cultures. Desert people have so much to teach us about hydration.
DIY SPORT DRINK for Concussion Prevention
Tarahumara Express One serving
– 12-ounce water in a water bottle
– 1 teaspoon ground chia seeds (Omega 3s)
– 4oz kambucha, your favorite flavor, ginger is great (The Tarahumara originally used homemade corn beer)
– Cap bottle and shake vigorously